How We Run Our Family Like a Business
And Stay Sane Doing It
How We Run Our Family Like a Business (And Stay Sane Doing It)
It’s Sunday morning, 9 AM. My wife and I sit down with our Notion workspace open between us, two sleeping babies in bassinets nearby. “Okay,” she says, “we need to plan our older daughter’s birthday party in December, discuss S-corp tax strategy, and book our flight to Canada for February.” I scroll through my task list helplessly.
This is our reality: four kids (ages 4, 2, and two 2-month-old twins), a dog, full-time jobs, and a side business, we run together. I recently started at an exciting startup where I’m coding, architecting, and building out a new team. My mind runs at 110% constantly. Meanwhile, my family life is exploding in mostly good ways, though my body reminds me daily about those my neglected body and past powerlifting injuries.
The Weekly Family Meeting
We’ve developed a system that keeps us from drowning. Inspired by Emily Oster’s The Family Firm, we run a structured weekly meeting with a clear agenda: urgent items first, then planned discussion topics, research topics, and assigned tasks. We review the upcoming week—kid drop-offs, conference travel. We check credit card balances, plan Christmas gifts, review subscriptions, and maintain a running list of research topics like pre-K and kindergarten options and vacation destinations.
The key insight? Tasks without dates don’t get done.
When we need to issue our sons’ passports for our England trip, we don’t just add it to a list—we assign it to Christina with a specific due date. When soccer season ends for our 4 and 2-year-olds, we schedule time to research new activities. We’re considering martial arts next
Beyond Weekly: The Full System
We’ve built layers of review: weekly meetings, monthly check-ins, quarterly family reviews, and an annual planning session. This isn’t corporate bureaucracy—it’s survival. Time doesn’t just materialize. With a wedding to attend in June, our business to run, and countless daily decisions, everything goes on the calendar.
Even cooking gets planned. I handle most meals because I’m quick at it and find it meditative.
Some Sunday nights, I’ll bulk cook three meals at once. That goes on the calendar too.
The Tools That Make It Possible
We chose Notion after testing many productivity tools. The others worked, but they didn’t help my family collaborate. Notion solves this by giving us a shared workspace - this isn’t a pitch just what we do and use.
We schedule what matters, and if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. We use many calendars: one shared, one for our au pair, and individual ones for work and personal tasks.
It’s complicated, but Notion Calendar has changed everything. It’s simple, links to our task manager, and automates time-blocking. Now we can schedule tasks from our family Notion, making it easier to run our family firm.
The Actionable System:
Put dates on everything that matter — Tasks without deadlines don’t get done. When something needs to happen, assign it to a person with a specific due date.
Keep a running list of discussion points—Instead of tackling heavy topics at 11 PM on a Wednesday and losing sleep or sneaking a quick discussion on taxes in a meeting bio break, maintain a list of time-sensitive and non-time-sensitive discussion points to address in your weekly meetings.
Schedule weekly family meetings — Set a recurring time (like Sunday mornings) to review the week ahead, assign responsibilities, and tackle planning together.
Use a structured agenda — Start with urgent items, then move to planned topics, research needs, and task assignments. End with a review of the upcoming week. This keeps meetings focused and productive.
Build review layers — Weekly meetings handle the immediate, but monthly check-ins, quarterly reviews, and annual planning sessions to catch the bigger picture and ensure that items get put on our running discussion list that move us towards larger goals.
Calendar everything that matters — If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. This includes meal prep, kid activities, travel planning, and even research time for trips, purchases etc.
Keep it fun — Weekly meetings don’t have to be a drag. Mix up the location, take it as a walking meeting when the weather’s nice, or make it a coffee date at your favorite spot which we do
If you’re drowning in family chaos, give this a shot.
Start small. S
tay consistent.
Until next time - Tim Frazer
P.S
I’ve got chicken and rice to prep, two babies to feed, and meetings to prep for.
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